


Headache

by Dain



Series: autistic tommy shepherd [3]
Category: Marvel, Young Avengers
Genre: Autistic Character, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 14:40:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2154360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dain/pseuds/Dain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy usually tried to avoid getting trapped under collapsed buildings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the end of the confinement theme for this series - I'll try getting a little more cheerful in future installments. Part 2 is already written, but it needs to be cleaned up before I post it, and I have some things coming up so I can't guarantee when that'll happen. Could be tomorrow, could be in two weeks.
> 
> Also: at one point Tommy stims via breathing in a way that might seem similar to hyperventilation or a panic attack, although that's not actually what's happening.

Having a concussion, as it turns out, makes it really hard to focus. And it takes a lot of focus to run through a wall.

“I don’t have super strength,” Tommy muttered to himself through gritted teeth. “I can’t just punch my way out of here. I need – to – go – _through_!”

When he bounced off the wall again, head aching angrily, he reflected that this method was probably not helping his head any. Still, he wasn’t going to get anywhere by just sitting around and hoping someone found him.

A few more failed attempts and a sharper pain in his head finally forced him away from the wall, glaring at it spitefully. “Okay, Shepherd,” he said aloud, staring around at the small, enclosed space, all that was left of a collapsed building that had decided to seriously fuck him over, “what’s Plan B?”

Plan B ended up involving a lot of poking at areas of the cave-in that seemed looser and trying to determine if he’d be able to dig his way out before the entire rest of the building came crashing down on him. He felt his away along the edges and tried to keep his fingers loose and relaxed as he did so, although the nervous vibrating kept sneaking back – probably not good if he was trying to not get crushed. He could barely see anything around him, although he could make out where the boundaries of his space were, as well as the dark shapes of rock and concrete and whatever else that littered the floor and – shit. Something shifted and creaked above him and he froze, listening, until it seemed to settle. Okay, so maybe he was well and truly stuck – or maybe it would all come down and crush him of its own accord, and he might as well try to get out while he could.

“Or the damn _wizard_ could come teleport me out of here!” he shouted at the roof of his little cave. Frustrated, he kicked at a piece of loose rubble on the ground. His breaths were coming shorter, and he thought vaguely that at least he wasn’t trapped somewhere airtight. Thank God he’d be breathing long enough to be slowly crushed to death. Hallelujah.

He crouched down, his hands folded over his nose and mouth. His breathing was coming out in sharp, heavy gasps and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying for some semblance of control. The feeling of complete and utter helplessness weighed down on him, his head falling between his knees. He clenched and unclenched his fists, stretching his fingers wide when they opened as he tried to release some of the tension in his muscles.

If only he knew how close he was to the surface. If he knew whether or not he was buried under the entire building, or if there was a spot or two that would open right up into the free air, he could get himself out before everything collapsed on him – but one wrong move and he was done. There was some sort of light in the space, it wasn’t pitch black, but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from, so that was no help.

He tried to comfort himself with the thought that eventually someone would realize that he was missing, and Billy would do some sort of “find Tommy” spell and come get him. Although, now that he thought about it, Billy hadn’t magicked him out of his cell, they’d gone for the option that had alerted the guards to what was going on…maybe he had to have some sort of idea of where he was going, or couldn’t get into confined spaces…

Tommy was pretty sure that you weren’t supposed to sleep when you had a concussion, but he was exhausted. He breathing had quieted to a normal level. Maybe if he slept a little he’d wake up feeling better and would actually be able to walk through the damn wall. Although he was already feeling better, maybe now…

The rush of dizziness and lightheadedness when he stood up left him disoriented and grimacing in pain as his headache came back with a vengeance. Okay, so, maybe not.

He tried again, once his head had cleared, just for the sake of doing something. The wall he was using was an actual wall, not the chunks of rubble piled on top of each other in a delicate balancing act. Thus far his crashing into it hadn’t disturbed anything else, and he was counting on his luck to hold out.

Well, “luck” being relative. This whole situation wasn’t exactly oozing luck.

He bounced off the wall again and growled. Okay. That wasn’t going to work. Maybe if he tried it from a different approach instead of just running into the wall…He frowned at his hand. Concentrated. He was still feeling woozy, but if he could just get his hand…

There! He passed it through the wall, in and out. Okay. So maybe if he just concentrated on specific areas bit by bit, he’d be able to –

“Tommy!”

Tommy just about jumped out of his skin. “Knock before you barge in next time,” he gasped. “ _Jesus Christ_.” He tried to glare at the newly-appeared Billy, illuminated by what seemed to be a glowing sphere of pale blue light, but he couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face.

“You okay?” Billy asked, ignoring Tommy’s comments. “You, uh. Kind of look like shit.”

“I didn’t really get a chance to freshen up,” Tommy shot back, running a hand through his admittedly gritty hair. “Took you long enough to come get me,” he added, elbowing Billy in the ribs.

“There was a lot of damage,” Billy said, looking a touch guilty. “It took a while to realize you were missing and not just, you know, elsewhere. But come on, we can talk later. We should get out of here.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't actually end up cleaning this up much, so apologies for that. I promise I'll make the next installment in this series more cheerful, there's been way too much doom and gloom around here lately.

_The walls closed in on him, the ceiling lowering until it brushed his head and he was forced to squat down, press himself to the floor, but everything was pressing in around him and he couldn’t move, couldn’t even vibrate, everything was coming down…_

Tommy had been slightly proud of himself for not completely freaking out while he’d been trapped. Sure, he’d been anxious, but he’d kept it together. No panicking or anything.

Later, when he’d started having nightmares about confinement again (now with more falling buildings!), he’d realized that his brain had just decided to go the “delayed reaction” route. Still, it could’ve been worse, he told himself – it had certainly been worse right after he’d been rescued. He could deal with a few nightmares.

 Billy had fussed over him a bit after teleporting them out, saying that he wasn’t sure how effective he would be at healing an injury he couldn’t see or feel and trying to insist that Tommy go to a hospital or at least put some ice on his head. He hadn’t let up about it until Tommy had been forced to remind his magical-soul-twin exactly why he wasn’t too keen on people in white coats poking at him, and besides, it was just a _concussion_ and he was really goddamn sick of his head hurting so _please for the love of_ –

Billy had finally – but somewhat grudgingly – acquiesced, and voila, he hadn’t ended up killing Tommy or whatever it was he’d been worried about, and the only lasting effect from the whole experience ended up being the nightmares.

Except, of course, Billy wouldn’t let the matter rest because apparently he couldn’t resist an opportunity to talk about _feelings_ , and he brought it back up out of the blue one day.

Tommy had stolen one of Billy’s textbooks and was pouring over it in his room, trying not to rip the pages as he flipped through them. The Kaplans had been weirdly okay with his refusal to enroll in school – the Kaplans seemed weirdly okay with everything, it was a little unnerving – but Mrs. Kaplan had insisted that he do some studying on his own time.

He’d been in the middle of absorbing something about covalent bonds when someone tapped on the open door. “Hey,” Billy said when he looked up.

“Hey.” Tommy shifted a little, tapping his fingers together. “What’s up?”

Billy took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that I got on you so much about going to the hospital the other day. It’s kind of easy to forget that you have different boundaries than I do, so – yeah. Sorry.”

Tommy blinked at him. “Uh. Okay?” He hadn’t really thought about the aftermath of the Collapsed Building Incident since it had happened, and he certainly hadn’t expected Billy to apologize – Tommy had been the one with the weird hang-ups, after all, not him.

“I mean it,” Billy insisted. “You were already stressed out, and I wasn’t helping.”

“I wasn’t that stressed,” Tommy muttered. When it looked like Billy was going to keep talking, Tommy added, “It’s fine, Billy. Really. I’m not holding a grudge or anything, no need to work yourself up over it.”

“I just – ”

“Relaaaax.”

Billy huffed out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, okay, I get it. Just – you’re doing okay, right?”

– _gasping for breath as the weight pressed down on his back, squeezing his lungs, the slow crush of shifting concrete and brick and whatever else digging into his spine, pinching his legs, pain in his fingers, dust in his mouth_ –

Tommy tossed a grin in Billy’s direction. “I’m fine, bro. Chill.”

 ‘Mostly’ was enough for him, anyway.


End file.
